Sept. 1, 1865.] THE TECHNOLOGIST. 
BRITISH COLUMBIA. 59 
serve to moderate the cold of winter ; and, in the second place, to the 
neighbourhood of two great snow-covered ranges, which, although not 
without their chilling influence in winter, serve, nevertheless, to temper 
the summer heat. Thus, the maximum annual range of temperature is far 
from excessive when circumstances of latitude and altitude are taken 
into consideration. The climate along the seaboard closely resembles 
that of Great Britain. 
To a short spring succeed four months of beautiful summer weather, 
usually terminating about the middle of September. During this 
delightful season little rain falls, and the days are generally bright and 
clear. Sea-breezes, blowing with great regularity from eleven a.m. until 
five P.M. temper the heat by day, the thermometer in the shade rarely 
rising above 80° in the hottest part of the summer ; and by night, land- 
breezes blowing from the hills render the air deliciously cool and fresh. 
The break-up of settled weather is somewhat rapid ; but in general the 
early frosts do not set in before the middle or latter end of October. 
About this time the heavy rains commence, the first snows soon appear 
on the hills, and thenceforward, until the middle of March, rain, fog, 
snow, and frost divide the days pretty equally between them. 
The whole country to the west of the dividing ridge of the Cascade 
Mountains shares in the general humid and temperate characteristics of 
the climate of the Fraser estuary ; but, on crossing the range, the 
eastern slope and the central belt beyond are found to exhibit some 
marked differences in their atmospheric conditions. Here but little rain 
falls, and some of the districts are exceedingly arid ; indeed, in a narrow 
slope of territory lying immediately to the east of, and parallel to, the 
Cascade range, the annual rainfall is incredibly small. And here again, 
notwithstanding the increased elevation, the seasons exhibit no remark- 
able extremes of temperature. The winters, though sharp enough for 
all the rivers and lakes to freeze, are calm and clear ; so that the cold, 
even when most severe, is not keenly felt. Snow seldom exceeds eighteen 
inches in depth ; and in many of the valleys of moderate elevation 
even weakly cattle often range at large during the winter months, 
without requiring shelter or any food but the natural pastures. In 
spring and early summer the weather is more rainy and unsettled than 
at any other time of the year ; but calm, cloudless skies prevail in 
July, August, and September ; and although at this season the heat by 
day is somewhat greater here than on the coast — a circumstance arising, 
in a great measure, from the more open nature of the country — it is 
more than compensated by the extra coolness of the nights. Of the 
climate of the eastern belt very little is known, though the superior 
elevation and mountainous character of the whole region impart to it a 
greater rigour than is experienced in other parts of the colony. Yet 
even here the influences which serve to modify the temperature of the 
central and western districts seem to be not wanting ; for all testi- 
mony concurs in assigning to the western slope of the Rocky Mountains 
a more temperate climate than is met with on the eastern side. 
